Page 26 of Misfit Monsters
“It reminded you of what?” I can’t help prompting.
Her arms come up to hug herself. “I was caught in onebefore. Obviously I got away. It shouldn’t bother me. I tried to stay calm.”
Toni frowns at Gnash. “You were teaching the class. You didn’t notice that she was getting agitated?”
The tiger shifter scowls back at her. “The students always hassle each other. You know that’s part of the training. I didn’t see anything that looked like reason for concern.”
“And yet here we are,” Albumin says in a detached tone.
As Gnash aims his scowl at the vampire, Shanty taps the tabletop. “But her power didn’t burst out in class. It happened a minute or two after dismissal, didn’t it?”
Peri shoots her a tight little smile. “I tried to get away from the things that were bothering me. It—it didn’t work well enough.”
Al tsks his tongue. “Here only a few days and already terrorizing her fellow students.”
Peri’s head droops even lower.
My reply tumbles out of me. “Shehasonly been here a few days. She’s barely had a chance to learn how to control her powers. And we didn’t realize they could harm shadowkind, or we’d have been taking more precautions to begin with. That’s partly on us.”
“We have to consider the safety of all the students,” Toni says.
Pearl makes a dismissive sound. “Everyone was fine with a little time to recover—no permanent damage done.”
“This time,” Gnash growls.
Peri’s shoulders hunch, and my throat constricts. I remember her coming into my classroom a couple of days ago, smiling with Fen, so pretty in her contentment that it was hard to drag my gaze away from her.
“She cares about her fellow students,” I say. “I’ve seen her doing her best to support them. She’s already formed a positive relationship with Fen.”
Gnash lets out a faint snort. I know he doesn’t think very highly of the naiad, but he doesn’t argue with me.
Shanty studies Peri. “Would you be willing to attend daily one-on-one tutoring sessions to see if we can get your errant energies under control?”
Peri’s head jerks up. “Yes, of course. Sign me up! If I didn’t have to worry anymore… I promise, I don’twantto hurt anyone.”
I don’t know how anyone at the table can doubt her sincerity.
But then, a sincere monster can still be a monster, whether they like it or not.
Gnash still looks disgruntled. “We’ll need to discuss the situation further amongst ourselves. If you stay, it’d be with a severe warning. We won’t tolerate more outbursts like this.”
Peri nods frantically. “I understand.”
Shanty motions to the door. “Please wait while we make our decision.”
Peri hurries away, with a slight wobble to her gait that sets me on the alert. Wassheinjured?
She keeps going without incident, so maybe it was just a nervous twitch. She clearly hates the idea of being banished to the shadow realm.
It’s hard for me to imagine her bright presence consigned to the endless darkness my shadowkind mentors have described. That place might have created her, but I can’t say she belongs there.
The moment the door has closed, Gnash turns toward me. “You shouldn’t be soft on her just because you feel guilty about dragging her here.”
I wince inwardly. “That’s not why I was defending her. You can see that she means well. She isn’t trying to be a threat.”
Toni rubs her temple. “In some ways, that could beworse. If she can be this destructive even when she’s trying her hardestnotto be…”
All right, it’s a little horrifying to think what Peri could do if shewantedto hurt someone.
